On
Thursday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York struck down
portions of the Patriot Act as unconstitutional, ordering the FBI
to stop issuing "national security letters" that secretly demand customer
information from Internet service providers and other businesses.

Washington
Post writer Dan Eggen commentated that the judge's ruling clarified
"the landmark anti-terrorism law violates the First Amendment and
the Constitution's separation of powers provisions because it, in
effect, prohibits recipients of the FBI letters from revealing their
existence and does not provide adequate judicial oversight of the
process.

"Marrero
wrote in his 106-page ruling that Patriot Act provisions related to
the letters are 'the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering,
with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values.'

"The
decision has the potential to eliminate one of the FBI's most widely
used investigative tactics. It comes amid widespread concern on Capitol
Hill over reported abuses in the way the FBI has used its national
security letter powers."

It's
interesting that leading into an election season, politicians on Capital
Hill are suddenly concerned with civil liberties. Makes you want to
say, "What a difference an election season can make, huh?"

Then
again, media activist Alex Jones was just arrested by New York Police
Department officers while filming a documentary about the sixth anniversary
of September 11th and joining the protest against the official version
of what happened on 9/11.

This
makes me reminisce about the good old days leading up to the last
U.S. Presidential election in which during one of several conversations
I had with a fellow evangelical who couldn�t understand my lack of
enthusiasm for the Bush administration, I listened as the highly educated
and very successful publisher said the dumbest thing I�d heard in
a while - a statement that has unfortunately been echoed by many sheeple
over the last seven years.

"But
Tom," he said in response to my concern about the erosion of civil
liberties, "If you don�t have anything to hide, you don�t have anything
to worry about!"

Maybe
it was because he was recently returned from a private dinner with
Attorney General John Ashcroft - which included a night of bulletproof
limousine rides and exquisite dining locations under the ever-present
protection of secret service agents - that my friend seemed asleep
at the cerebral wheel. Or perhaps it was due to the three of us �
him, me and Ashcoft - having credentials in the same organization
or Ashcroft�s winning personality and the afterglow of the piano playing
and gospel-songs-crooning they had shared at the Attorney General�s
private residence that night that had disarmed my buddy�s brain. After
all, I�m sure all of this would make it difficult for any hard-core
evangelical to understand my point of view: that our friend the nation�s
top cop was becoming a scary man working with a group of even scarier
men on some pretty scary policies.

Whatever
the case, in the days following the election, I was pleased to learn
that Ashcroft hadn't been that supportive of the administration's
wishes, and that he would soon be stepping down. Yet my bubble burst
when insiders told me the celebration had come a bit early, and that
John Ashcroft�s replacement was bringing some equally menacing qualities
of his own to the thoroughly neo-conned White House. Multilateralism
was being deemed outmoded, they said, and the new assertion would
be that freedom from terrorism would only occur through pre-emptive
action against �enemies of democracy� not only abroad, 'but also inside
the United States.'"

Such
as... Alex Jones?

Of
course it was bound to come sooner or later. I even predicted such,
not that I�m a prophet you understand, and not that anybody was listening
way back then.

It
was 1990 when as keynote speaker to a packed house of religious delegates
including TBN officials, I said loudly into the microphone, "If America
doesn�t wake up and teach it�s kids to think, we will have a dictator
in this country within ten years!"

I
still remember the looks on their faces, as if they were musing, "Here
he goes with that �loss of liberty� speech again. Does Tom really
believe that in just ten years Americans will be microchipped, body
searched at airports and detained without warrants!?"

Of
course they were right. I had miscalculated. A dictator didn�t take
control of the U.S. within ten years like I�d predicted. It appears
he will need a bit more time.

With
leading members of the increasingly political and spiritually anemic
evangelical community spouting phrases like, "If you don�t have anything
to hide, you don�t have anything to worry about," it shouldn�t take
too long. The eradication of fundamental rights including the presumption
of innocence, which my publisher friend either didn�t understand or
cherish, is easy fodder for the emerging beast as he plows the inevitable
intrusion by federal bureaucrats into every corner of our lives.

Students
of the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution will see the irony
here. In 1789, while Americans were at long last rejoicing in newfound
liberties and hard-won freedoms, more than twenty thousand citizens
prepared to be executed in Paris's guillotines beneath the horrific
persecution and torture of Maximilien Robespierre. France would witness
an unprecedented reign of terror leading up to totalitarianism and
Napoleon, in which the masses would in effect be told, "If you don�t
have anything to hide, you don�t have anything to worry about!"

In
case you�re interested in how today�s pre-emptive action against "enemies
of democracy inside the United States" might likewise materialize,
here are the signs I talked about over fifteen years ago.

Signpost
#1 - The erosion of free speech:

Any
criticism of the U.S. President and members of the government are
currently being viewed as hostile. To speak your mind or disagree
in the current political climate can malign you as a terrorist or
at a minimum an unpatriotic radical. Like those worried pilgrims who
fled in their little boats so long ago to escape totalitarianism in
search of America, in the near future dissenters will be viewed as
enemies of the state if they challenge the status quo.

Signpost
#2 - The erosion of privacy:

As
you learn to march in cadence to the New American Dream, changes to
federal privacy laws will see you watched, monitored, investigated,
patted down, detained, harassed and suspected of criminal activity
until you can prove otherwise. To ensure everybody�s uncontested compliance
along the new chain-cobbled highway, national ID and exhaustive databases
will be networked to track continuous individual whereabouts and activities.
Your car, television, computer, sidewalk and building cameras will
assure that Big Brother�s benevolent eyes are watching everything
you do.

Signpost
# 3 - The erosion of property rights:

During
the coming years, personal property rights will be vastly undermined.
Why? Because of sustainable society ideas, and also because when government
accumulates power in responding to a crises, it brings with it the
authority to commandeer resources. The roof over your head is yours
only as long as the government doesn�t want it, every Real Estate
agent knows this. It�s called imminent domain and I watched my grandfather
lose his campground as a result of this law. How long will it be before
similar principles apply to those hard-earned bucks you have in the
bank? Already there is a global push for biometric body-parts-scanning
in order to verify your rights to access your own money... so that
you can buy and sell. Does this sound prophetic to anybody but me?

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Signpost
#4 - The erosion of fundamental fairness and U.S. due process standards:

A
new election �mandate� that is given or assumed in 2008 could waste
little time building on the Bush years and changing valuable court
resources. To "make this country safer and to protect our mutual interests,"
citizens could witness further erosion of constitutional rights, including
the misuse of laws and regulations by government officials as well
as the implementation of new rules for domestic engagement - such
as detention without formal charges.

But
take heart, Alex Jones. I heard recently that If you don�t have anything
to hide, you don�t have anything to worry about!

Over the last decade, he has authored three books,
wrote dozens of published editorials, and had several feature magazine
articles. In addition to past articles
at NewsWithViews.com , his works have been referred to by writers of the
LA Times Syndicate, MSNBC, Christianity Today, Coast to Coast, World Net
Daily, White House Correspondents and dozens of newsmagazines and press
agencies around the globe. Tom's latest book is "The Ahriman Gate," which
fictionalizes the use of biotechnology to resurrect Biblical Nephilim.

Thomas is also a well known radio personality
who has guest-hosted and appeared on dozens of radio and television shows
over the last 30 years, including "The 700 Club" and "Coast to Coast AM."
When looking for a spokesperson to promote their film "Deceived" staring
Louis Gossett Jr. and Judd Nelson, "Cloud 10 Pictures" selected Thomas
as their spokesperson to explain the Christian viewpoint on UFO-related
demonology.

It's
interesting that leading into an election season, politicians on Capital
Hill are suddenly concerned with civil liberties. Makes you want to say,
"What a difference an election season can make, huh?"